{Faith Discovery} Challenge ~ 2008

Hello there! My name is Dahlia and I have been so blessed to be a part of this awesome family here at Faith Sisters. Not only am I currently on the Creative Team but, also a designer at our shop. So far, it has been one of the greatest experiences I've had this year and I'm so looking forward to what's in store for the new year 2008! Great things are happening already and with this year coming to a close, you can expect to see awesome things take place very soon! So don't miss out and please visit us often to stay informed!

My reason for this post is to get the word out for another new weekly challenge that I'm so excited about! First of all, before I go any further let me ask you this... Are you ready to go on a journey deeper into your faith and scrap about real life issues that many of us face? We all scrap about good things and that's perfectly okay but, what about those "less than stellar" memories? What about things that you discovered about yourself that you never knew? What about scrapbooking the every day details of life? What about lessons that we have yet to learn that have not been brought to our attention or issues that we are still continuing to deal with? Maybe we have had moments--good or bad--in our lives that have shaped our character, our integrity, and our faith. And maybe we find it hard to recall those things because we don't really have the inspiration or the motivation to "scrap outside the box" or in other words, explore our faith outside the boundaries of the ordinary and into the extraordinary. So for that reason, I'm so honored and grateful for this opportunity to host weekly challenges every Monday starting in January 2008, called "FAITH DISCOVERY". I'm so excited to see what God does through this and know that it will be such a blessing to see what everyone will come up with. There are no rules to this challenge except to enjoy and create to your heart's content. We each have a unique story that is worth telling so we're not here to judge one another's experiences but, to embrace the life that we have lived and continue to live in the light of God's grace in every circumstance. We all have had lessons in life that can be used to encourage and empower others especially our children and loved ones. We all have visions and promises that He has given us that we are holding on to by faith. And we all have had our faith stretched to the point of giving up but, still found ourselves clinging on to His Words and found that miracles are possible if we have faith. So here is a chance to scrap about all these things that we normally would not think about and of course add it on to our collections of faith legacy albums! Hopefully, as we reflect on our experiences it will give us a deeper look into ourselves and see how by God's grace we are being transformed into His beautiful image. I pray it will give us a deeper understanding of who we are as a child of God and wisdom to help us to become the person God has called us to be. And may those of you who participate, have a greater appreciation for your relationship with Jesus and that your faith will increase immeasurably as we discover that we have POWER within us when we exercise that faith!

Lastly, just be sure to post your layouts in our gallery so we can learn from one another and also praise each other for our God-given creations. Another awesome part to this challenge is that I will occasionally be giving free downloads to those who participate which will be both compatible for digital and paper scrapbookers. So please feel free to join in at any time throughout the year! And be sure to check the forums for any updates or announcements under Inspirational Challenges in the Faithbooking & Scrapbooking board. I know there are plenty of wonderful challenges being hosted here at Faith Sisters which gives you alot of reasons to faithbook and will provide tons of creative inspiration and hopefully you'll find FAITH DISCOVERY CHALLENGES to be one of them. I look forward to meeting you and seeing your awesome layouts inspired by this challenge! So please spread the word and share the good news about all that's going on here at Faith Sisters! Blessings!

Here are a few of many verses that have inspired me for this challenge!

2 Corinthians 5:7 ~ "We live by faith, not by sight."

Ephesians 2:8 ~ "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God."

Hebrews 11:1 ~ "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

Hebrews 11:6 ~ "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

2 Timothy 4:7 ~ "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

James 1:2-4 ~ "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."